Bounce, bounce, BANG, hurtle upwards, gentle descent, bounce, bounce, BANG etc
-- squoink, Sep 19 2003

Hop Rod http://www.bpmlegal.com/wpogo.html
Scary fun with petrol! these are actually for sale! [stilgar, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

Project Orion http://www.islandon...n/ProjectOrion.html
Project Orion was a Nuke Powered Pogo Spaceship [macrumpton, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

After you. No, no I insist after you.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Sep 19 2003


Gentle descent? Well, yes, I guess all the tiny bits you've been blown into will settle gently back to earth, no piece large enough to injure anyone else or set off any more mines.
-- oxen crossing, Sep 19 2003


//BANG, hurtle upwards, gentle descent//

...in several pieces. How is this good?
-- k_sra, Sep 19 2003




Charlene took a sip of coffee. She said “You know Charlie’s been recalled?”
“No, why?” I said, surprised. I’d thought the war was over.
“Afghanistan. He’s in charge of a whole division of pogogliders.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
“He says it’s fun, bouncing all over. Any time he hits one of them things its like ‘yahoooo’.”
“That sounds just like Charlie.”
“Well, just think of a whole bunch of them yahoos all across the countryside, bouncing around like kangaroos.”
“At least he’s patriotic, at least he can stand tall.”
“Tall, hah! Listen, he’s about six inches shorter than he was. Every time one of them dang things goes off, he loses an inch. Now I can see the bald spot on top of his head.”
“That’s tough,” I said.
“Worse than that, he and his buddies started dying their bald spots bright blue.”
I laughed, not knowing what to say.
“His head looks like a robin’s egg in a nest,” she said, “they all do.”
Robin's eggs in nests bouncing around Afghanistan like kangaroos. I tried to maintain the image, but my brain gave out.


-- pluterday, Sep 19 2003


Bear in mind that this is a specialised piece of military equipment. The pogoglider will be fitted with a blast shield at it's base. This will provide both protection and upward thrust.
-- squoink, Sep 19 2003


Oh, thaaaaat expains it. Sounds like it's getting pretty heavy, what with a blast shield, giant spring to bounce all the weight, and a huge glider big enough to fly the whole contraption. I now see why you didn't include all the details in the description: like a good politician, gloss over the parts that don't help sell the idea. I like it. [+]
-- oxen crossing, Sep 19 2003


I think the blast shield could be fairly lightweight as there is a lot of "give" in the upward direction. The wings could also be lightweight and flexible - more like a hang glider than aeroplane type glider. They would be folded into the stem of the pogoglider and be released at the apex of the ascent.
-- squoink, Sep 19 2003


sounds like fun. weight problems could be eased with the addition of a simple internal combustion cylinder. pogo sticks of this kind were sold in the states for a few years in the sixties as 'Hop Rod's. see link.
-- stilgar, May 31 2004


I remember reading about the orion project from the 40's-50's which was the same concept but with nukes in space (I kid you not). see link
-- macrumpton, May 31 2004



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